Written by:	ScreamingSteelUS
Published:	March 30, 2016

The articles in this series begun by our own Baz Anderson are designed to give a brief overview of a band's entire discography, so as to provide a clear point of entry for the uninitiated. It offers a different approach from the typical review format, for the curious newcomer to a well-traveled band.

Anaal Nathrakh
Black metal, grindcore, industrial metal
UK

Musical Armageddon rarely finds such coherent forms as those that Anaal Nathrakh spews forth from the gaping maw of hell. This English duo constantly seeks to integrate any destructive musical measures possible, paying no heed to the boundaries of genre. Mick "Irrumator" Kenney's rabid instrumentation builds up massive walls of sound to annihilate everything within range, with gut-striking riffs, wailing solos, and insatiable drum machines. Dave "V.I.T.R.I.O.L." Hunt, meanwhile, constantly pushes the envelope with his vocal experimentations, leaving no style untouched; his demonic utterances range from the growling of hellhounds to the hysterical cries of the damned to some unsettling baying that can be described with nothing more specific than "sounds." In any discussion of terrifying, destructive, or just plain brutally misanthropic music, Anaal Nathrakh must be included.

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The Codex Necro (2001) The Codex Necro bristles with belligerent distortion, an inferno of chilling sound that captures the misanthropic fury of early black metal as well as the musical tropes. The songwriting might go by the books in most instances, but "Pandemonic Hyperblast" and other tracks offer telling glimpses into Anaal Nathrakh's future. Mick Kenney slips some creepily organic riffs in between the stacks of noise, and Dave Hunt, though still a ways from developing his monumental vocals featured on later albums, vomits forth disgusting screams with vile aplomb. This album sticks closest to pure black metal of all Anaal Nathrakh releases, but it still strays into realms more gruesome. Standout Tracks: "Pandemonic Hyperblast," "The Supreme Necrotic Audnance," "Human, All Too Fucking Human"

Domine Non Es Dignus (2004) Though musically Domine Non Es Dignus remains more black metal than anything else, Anaal Nathrakh strays into bulkier and more brutal territory, equipped with slightly fuller production. Riffs borrowed from hardcore and grindcore add sonic armor to the steadily-hardening black metal chassis. Hunt pushes himself vocally, introducing his first high-pitched wails amidst torrents of growling, snarling, choking, hissing, and insane utterings. Despite the progression of sound, Domine Non Es Dignus can be a hard album to analyze sometimes; it leans toward the technically-precise mechanizations of later Anaal Nathrakh while trying to preserve the raw noisiness of the debut, and these contradictory directions make the album confusing occasionally. The songwriting, too, falls short of the album's predecessor and successor. Standout Tracks: "Do Not Speak," "This Cannot Be The End," "To Err Is Human, To Dream - Futile"

Eschaton (2006) On Eschaton, Anaal Nathrakh truly finds its footing. Eschaton is a mighty whirlwind of weaponized noise, musical chaos only restrained as much as was necessary to bind it to recording equipment. Here, black metal has fully integrated with grindcore, death, and thrash to create a writhing cocktail of borderline-unfathomable rage. The atmosphere recalls the noisiness and unbridled fury of The Codex Necro, but with a powerful low end that makes each song a crushing powerhouse. Hunt, amidst his voracious growls, unveils his much-improved clean vocals to add an entirely new facet of dramatic energy to the punky anger and thrashy violence. Eschaton is at the same time much more focused and much more chaotic than the preceding two albums, and remains one of the best examples of Anaal Nathrakh's sound. Standout Tracks: "Between Shit And Piss We Are Born," "The Destroying Angel," "When The Lion Devours Both Dragon And Child," "The Yellow King"

Hell Is Empty, And All The Devils Are Here (2007) Hell Is Empty, And All The Devils Are Here takes another stab at what Domine Non Es Dignus tried to achieve: a more perfect union between blasphemous black disorder and something heavier-hitting. From the outset, this album utilizes much earthier, deeper tones and has a fuller, more rounded sound than its predecessors - not as diabolically insane as Eschaton, but thicker and more calculated. Hell Is Empty has the most thrash influence of any Anaal Nathrakh album, bordering sometimes on groove or melodeath; musically the album is a slight step down, but the vocals - continuing to seek new ground - help push the songs over the edge. Standout Tracks: "Der Hölle Rache Kocht In Meinem Herzen," "Sanction Extremis (Kill Them All)," "Virus Bomb"

In The Constellation Of The Black Widow (2009) In The Constellation Of The Black Widow presents the crystallization of the Anaal Nathrakh sound. This album combines excellence in songwriting, production, performance, and genre-mixing; professional production exists in tandem with the almost-sloppy anarchy of reckless, violent noise - not stifling each other, but straining each other further and further into oblivion. A clinical coldness has settled into the band's mindset, an inhuman mechanization borrowed from industrial that offsets the unbridled, crushing discord of grindcore and jagged black metal. Operatic, utterly chilling choruses showcase Hunt's true vocal v.i.t.r.i.o.l. Kenney and Hunt both offer some of their strongest performances to date, sparing no effort to craft a record as unsettling as it is heavy and as disgusting as it is evil. Standout Tracks: "In The Constellation Of The Black Widow," "I Am The Wrath Of Gods And The Desolation Of The Earth," "Oil Upon The Sores Of Lepers," "Blood Eagles Carved On The Backs Of Innocents"

Passion (2011) Passion carries on the approach of In The Constellation Of The Black Widow, perfectly melding all kinds of sick and twisted musical forms into a cold wasteland of monstrous detonations. The songs never sacrifice energy or rage for all their precision, allowing the conflicting methodologies of black, grind, noise, industrial, and death to compete and create brutal conflict, rather than losing focus in a mire of varying techniques. Now settled on the exact atmosphere, Anaal Nathrakh experiments somewhat with song structures, investing in some more adventurous compositions and collaborations. "Tod Huetet Uebel" is one of the most putrid, vile, disgusting, inhuman, gruesome, and insanely evil songs ever recorded, due in no small part to guest Rainer Landfermann's unutterably horrifying vocals. Standout Tracks: "Tod Huetet Uebel," "Drug-Fucking Abomination," "Paragon Pariah," "Who Thinks Of The Executioner"

Vanitas (2012) Vanitas, too, follows after In The Constellation Of The Black Widow, further demonstrating that this sound more than any seems most suited to the Anaal Nathrakh ethos. Of course, not content to stay in one place for too long, Anaal Nathrakh begins to sneak some electronic elements into the mix, introducing an entirely new array of potential sonic weapons with which to induce insanity in the listener. The album is more aggressive than Passion, and overall has stronger songwriting, making Vanitas more brutal, intense, and virulent. Standout Tracks: "Forging Towards The Sunset," "Todos Somos Humanos," "You Can't Save Me, So Stop Fucking Trying"

Desideratum (2014) Desideratum takes the brief moments of electronic experimentation and develops them into greater themes under the aegis of breakcore/dubstep artist GoreTech. The "wholesome" production robs the album of some power and bite, making Desideratum perhaps the cleanest-sounding Anaal Nathrakh album, but the new musical direction and strong songwriting make up for the smooth edges. Even a "softer," more experimental Anaal Nathrakh is an unstoppable tyrant of hellish noise. Standout Tracks: "The One Thing Needful," "A Firm Foundation Of Unyielding Despair," "Unleash," "Rage And Red"

The Whole Of The Law (2016) Though not entirely shaking off the electronic elements of Desideratum, The Whole Of The Law is less fascinated with them, aiming resolutely for something else: an epic strain of symphonic black metal (still corrupted by the blazing fervor of grind and the frigid production of industrial metal). Almost like a domino chain triggered by a nuclear explosion, The Whole Of The Law sports a great succession of apocalyptic choruses, riffs, and synthesizers that construct grandiose atmospheres, even bordering on the despondent rather than the furious. For an Anaal Nathrakh album, The Whole Of The Law is capable of demonstrating a surprising amount of restraint, placing as much faith in its melodies as its brute force - not that it's any less of a homicidal assault, but as the album progresses it turns into an unexpected showcase of the band's ability to write songs that are catchy as well as evil. Standout Tracks: "Hold Your Children Close And Pray For Oblivion," "Of Horror, And The Black Shawls," "We Will Fucking Kill You," "Extravaganza!"

A New Kind Of Horror (2018) Mechanized, global, catastrophic, profoundly wasteful - this is World War I, the "new kind of horror" that this album's title refers to. In pursuit of this theme, Anaal Nathrakh's sound once again reorients itself, this time in the direction of even more robotic grooves and artificial-sounding production. The whining of propellers, droning of engines, and clinking of bullet cartridges spin the band's familiar harsh precision into something more appropriately martial, at the same time countered and made all the more frightening by another increase in synthesizer use. Traditional black metal seeps back into many riffs between the mechanistic chugging, but armored by so many concurrent styles, A New Kind Of Horror continues the trend of being describable only in sensations of discomfort. Standout Tracks: "Forward!", "Vi Coactus," "Mother Of Satan," "Obscene As Cancer"

Endarkenment (2020) Thus Anaal Nathrakh leapt from the apocalypse of one century to the apocalypse of another, embracing more than ever the melodeath and metalcore elements that had slowly begun to edge out the grindcore and black metal over several albums. In contrast to the mechanical A New Kind Of Horror, Endarkenment returns to the songwriting approach of The Whole Of The Law, turning a concentrated version of the band's multigenre attack to the benefit of increasingly melodic guitar lines and emotionally charged choruses. A decade of steadily more polished production has led to a somewhat sanitized sound, not as raw or chaotic as the band's 2000s material, but there remain numerous layers of vocals and instrumentation that give Endarkenment its own incredible density - and with the anger of 2020's rapid downward spiral infecting each and every note, the rage, too, is more palpable than ever. Standout Tracks: "Endarkenment," "The Age Of Starlight Ends," "Libidinous (A Pig With Cocks In Its Eyes)", "Create Art, Though The World May Perish"

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Overview:

Anaal Nathrakh is misanthropic rage personified. Anaal Nathrakh is the aural equivalent of a Hieronymus Bosch painting of Dante's Inferno. Anaal Nathrakh exists to terrify, to destroy, and to spew forth horrors unimaginable with no purpose other than to remind the human race of how disgusting it is. To achieve these goals, Anaal Nathrakh employs any and every frightening musical technique within reach, mixing black metal, grindcore, noise, industrial, death metal, and some sounds that can only be described as "emanating from the victims of some sightless horror out of the depths." Ruthlessly vile in philosophy and delivery alike, the duo succeeds in making terrifying music in a world already jaded to so many transgressive forms.